By Haruna Salami
The Senate Leader who defected from the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and resigned his post has said he came the decision after a hard struggle between remaining in his exalted office and abandoning his people, but decided to be on the side of the people.
Speaking with journalists after resigning as leader of the 9th Senate, Senator Abdullahi said it was a very hard struggle with his conscience and emotions on whether to remain on the side of my people, or to selfishly look the other way”.
He said he could not continue to work for the success of the APC administration at the centre while the people of his state, his primary constituency, “continue to wallow in abject poverty and destitution under the misrule and manipulation of a despot”, the Kebbi State governor.
“I have therefore decided to pitch my tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in order to join forces with my compatriots at home who are struggling against incompetence, imposition and violation of democratic norms, principles and practices.
According to him, “the democratic challenges and deficits in my state, Kebbi State, did not just start from the last congresses, but right from July last year when the governor illegally decapitated the State leadership of the party, imposed unelected ward, local government and state executives of the party.
He said the matter was brought to the attention of the caretaker Committee of the Party under Governor Mai Mala Buni, adding that all efforts by well meaning individuals including the Senate President and the North-West Zone Governors’ entreaties were equally spurned just as the defunct Abdullahi Adamu-led National Reconciliation Committee’s intervention to find amicable resolutions failed “all primarily due to the manipulative intransigence of the governor”.
However, today he is happy with his new party the PDP as he has peace of mind, which also made the candidate of the party for Kebbi North senatorial district relinquishing the ticket to him for 2023 elections without any pressure on him.
The former Leader his defection to PDP has brought a lot of fortunes to the party to the extent that the PDP in the last one week had recorded the highest membership cards issuances than it had done in the last eight years following the defections of APC members to the party.
“I don’t think PDP has sold membership cards and forms in the last eight years as they have sold in Kebbi state in the last one week. So it is a daily activity of defection in Kebbi state, almost every day people are moving out”.
